Heretofore it was known to tether a golf ball so as to obtain feedback from the ball during part of the ball flight, as disclosed in Simjian I, U.S. Pat. No. 2,715,338, granted Aug. 16, 1955. This device did not provide a realistic environment relative to the ball flight, and further did not provide responsive signals until the tether was taut.
In an effort to provide improved devices, a golf ball was struck by a club and driven in free, untethered flight against a screen or target, and often there was projection of a target or fairway, as generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,528, issued Sept. 18, 1973 to Christophers; U.S. Pat. No. 2,581,738, issued Jan. 8, 1952 to E. E. Williams; U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,630, issued Apr. 25, 1978 to Speiser, et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,825, issued Apr. 24, 1979 to Wilson; U.S. Pat. No. 3, 81,438, issued June 4, 1974 to Baron; U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,976, issued Aug. 10, 1971 to Russell; U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,996, issued Feb. 2, 1971 to Hopp; U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,315, issued Apr. 24, 1973 to Conklin I; U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,894, issued Nov. 6, 1973 to Conklin II; U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,410, issued Jan. 8, 1963 to Simjian II; U.S. Pat. No. 2,778,645, issued Jan. 22, 1957 to Simjian III; U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,466, issued May 28, 1963 to Speiser; and Canadian Pat. No. 682,617, issued Mar. 24, 1964 to Speiser.
Such prior art devices required extensive and elaborate arrangements to permit the flight of the ball against the target, and were not generally useful in homes or offices. Furthermore, such prior art devices could not generally accommodate putting, chipping and driving.
Such prior art devices either required the free flight of the ball in an elaborate chamber or the game did not provide a realistic aspect in stroking the ball or provide a high degree of accuracy as to the ball flight information.
Now there is provided by the present invention a game simulator in which the ball is struck in its normal intended manner and yet free flight or tethered flight is avoided, and yet there is an accurate determination and display of ball flight information in relation to a computer controlled images of the ball play environment.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a game simulator in which highly accurate ball flight information is obtained and graphically displayed in relation to a specific play environment without requiring free flight of the ball after impact.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a game simulator as aforesaid in which a conventional television is utilized for display of the ball graphics as well as the golf course graphics.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a game simulator as aforesaid in which video images of actual courses may be displayed, and the ball movement information being accessed by the computer to determine the course position for viewing of the course position relative to the ball position, whereby the simulator permits "playing" of an actual course.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a game simulator which may be used in a home or office, utilizing a television set, and a home computer or game cassette computer, and video recorder or video disc player.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a game simulator as aforesaid which is useful for a broad range of games which the player impacts the ball in the normal intended manner.